Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and processes that detect the launching of a missile or other high speed, propellant or electromagnetically fired projectile, pinpoint the geographical location of said launch, determine the trajectory of said missile, and destroy said missile.
Description of Prior Art
Various Anti-Ballistic Missile systems have been developed that determine the launch position and trajectory of a propellant fired missile. These include AN/SPY series radar system of the type deployed on U.S. Navy Aegis cruisers. Additional GPS related missile tracking systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,945 to Lin, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,922 to McIntosh.
Prior art ABM systems using trajectory trisection technology such as disclosed in Millard""s U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,310, offer the benefit that significant time is available to track the incoming ballistic missiles, calculate their trajectory, and distinguish decoys from actual ballistic missiles. However, one of the major drawbacks of such a system is that the incoming ballistic missile is relatively close to its target by the time such an ABM system can launch an interceptor missile. If the interceptor missile misses or experiences a malfunction, inadequate time is left to take alternate defensive measures. Such drawbacks are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,056 to Guelman et al. Other antiballistic missile technology is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,174 to Lauren. Additionally, Redano""s U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,222 discloses a mobile, ship based ballistic missile detection and defense system intended to be deployed in the vicinity of rogue nations which may pose a ballistic missile threat to the United States.
These prior art missile tracking and anti-ballistic missile defense systems may be moderately useful for defending against localized, small scale ballistic missile attacks, but in the event of a wide area, multiple missile assault, no prior art provides the technology to neutralize virtually ALL incoming threats. Every current ABM system depends on a xe2x80x9cone-to-onexe2x80x9d kill approach. In other words, one kill projectile is launched for every incoming assault missile.
The present invention discloses technologies intended to detect a missile launch using a unique analysis of ambient electromagnetic frequencies; therefore, additional related art includes airport radar matrix databases which are configured to trigger an alarm or alert condition when an xe2x80x9cunexpectedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cout-of-rangexe2x80x9d object anomaly is detected.
The present invention also discloses technologies intended to neutralize the guidance systems of missiles and destroy the missile threat from a distance. Therefore, other technologies which must be considered relevant prior art are microwave, or other EM pulse transmitters such as may be related to Kremeyer""s U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,221, which discloses a process in which a shock wave in a fluid is modified by emitting energy to form an extended path in the fluid.
Since no current ABM system has demonstrated 100% effectiveness at current xe2x80x9cthreat-to-killxe2x80x9d ratios, it is clearly unlikely that prior art can provide true missile defense security. The present invention provides improved capabilities to detect and neutralize single and multiple simultaneous missile threats.
The objective of the present invention is to provide the capability to detect and neutralize missiles in close proximity to the launch point. In today""s volatile political climate, a system capable of detecting and neutralizing projectile borne weapons anywhere on the globe is critical to the defense of all nations.
Many systems are already being employed and developed for missile launch detection that take advantage of satellite mounted visual, and thermal detection systems, but these are only effective if they already happen to be pointing at potential threats. There are currently not enough airborne systems of this type to effectively cover the globe. The present invention may provide a solution to the problem of global missile launch detection.
Many years ago, the xe2x80x9cEmergency Broadcast Systemxe2x80x9d was established to use a network of all available broadcast transmitters to output a common xe2x80x9calert tone frequencyxe2x80x9d to warn the US population of a civil or military emergency. The present invention provides a unique and novel enhancement to this notification system. By creating a network of all available TV, radio, and telecommunications satellite and land based transmitters and receivers in all commercial and private spectra, and using precisely tuned electromagnetic frequency reading algorithmsxe2x80x94operable on and through said networkxe2x80x94a missile launch may be detected within moments of the initial fuel burn.
Another primary objective of the present invention is to provide a simplified multiple target tracking data format that allows rapid updating of the missile launch response section of the present invention.
Another primary objective of the present invention is to provide a missile neutralization system that disables or destroys the guidance system of a missilexe2x80x94or multiple missiles simultaneouslyxe2x80x94as well as any carried warheads, as close to the geographical launch point as possible. This is disclosed as a unique wide area missile threat neutralization system that utilizes a network of electromagnetic frequency pulses to disrupt the guidance systems of missiles after detection, create false target images, and disable or destroy the explosive materials within the warhead. Though there are numerous ways to adversely affect electrical devices remotely in prior art, no effective portable means has been available to stop the operational capabilities of missiles. The present invention disclosed herein may affect such results.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages, will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and drawings. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in the dependent claims.